An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
In celebration of the upcoming MELE release, I am revisiting some of my favorite fics I’ve written for Mass Effect.
While I’m hardly what one would call a prolific smut writer, I could hardly let Thirsty Thursday go by without recalling this fic, which is among my favorites not just for the hot sex, but because it showcases the relationship growth between Nathaly Shepard and Kaidan Alenko so very well. These two are my forever OTP, and the joy their story has given me over the years is more than worth all the frustration I’ve had bringing it to life.
She’d been silent a few moments too long. Kaidan peered at her. “Nathaly. Hey. You can tell me anything, you know that.”
“I wish I hadn’t fought with you like that.” Referring to the after part. The one they’d talked about enough to move past it, but not at all since then.
Kaidan turned her hand over in his, making a study of her palm, as he sought the right words. “I stepped on a landmine. Should I blame the device, or the people who put it there?”
When her only response was to bite her lip and glance away, he persisted, “What’s important is I watched you dismantle it. I saw how hard and painful that was, and you did it anyway, and I’m so, so proud of you.”
A knot formed in her stomach. She mumbled, “Sometimes I think I’m made of nothing but landmines.”
“That’s not true.” He gave her hand a small tug, recapturing her attention, and when she looked into his face she saw no trace of irritation, or the weariness she expected. “We’ll keep stripping them off, one by one, and taking them apart, and someday all that’s left will be you.”
When he said it like that, she almost believed it. Almost. A wall crumbled.